Ultra premium convenience

The way retail is heading I suspect we will eventually end up in a world of opposites.

Cheap or premium.

No middle ground.

Like them of loath them premium brands know how to market themselves.

Great case in point is the Cartier pop-up store in ultra chic Omotesando in Tokyo.

Not just any pop up store mind you. A golden hued convenience store.

It looked just like a 7/11 but with the garish red and green branding replaced withCartier"s signature gold.

Items on sale included luxury food and drinks, including cuppa noodles for $135 and slices of mango cake for around $130.

Hardly cheap. In fact anything but.

And yet fans of the brand lapped it up, with Instagrammers queued up around the block for a piece of the ultra-premium action.